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Beam-Riding and Sail Stability (sending "starchips" to α Centauri: travel time 20-40yrs)
Centauri Dreams ^
| 6/23/17
| Paul Gilster
Posted on 06/24/2017 11:15:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker
click here to read article
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To: LibWhacker
Cool. In 100 years they’ll be saying “It’s not exactly beam science!”
2
posted on
06/24/2017 11:22:22 AM PDT
by
bigbob
(People say believe half of what you see son and none of what you hear - M. Gaye)
To: LibWhacker
it’s cool I guess but it is not going to inspire anyone. You can’t excite people or inspire kids to explore the hard sciences if you keep sending robots and chips into space.
To: LibWhacker
probably nothing the human race will get a better ROI on than investment in space propulsion
To: LibWhacker
Starchip... maybe Doritos will fund this is you let them put their logo on it.
5
posted on
06/24/2017 12:17:26 PM PDT
by
Kirkwood
(Zombie Hunter)
To: LibWhacker
One question... where is the beam located ?
6
posted on
06/24/2017 12:31:58 PM PDT
by
UCANSEE2
(Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
To: UCANSEE2
Where is the beam located?
Sheesh, didn’t read the article? The beam hits the sail to make it go.
To: UCANSEE2
That's what I'm wondering. Putting it almost anywhere involves more movement and noise. Then there's sheer distance necessitating an incredibly narrow angle, with any angle wider than the craft at distance is wasted energy - and we're talking a scale of one meter spread at one light year distance, 10^−16 degrees.
8
posted on
06/24/2017 12:48:08 PM PDT
by
ctdonath2
(It's not "white privilege", it's "Puritan work ethic". Behavior begets consequences.)
To: LibWhacker
Until we figure out the anti-gravity drive propulsion systems that Bob Lazar worked on at Groom Lake (near Area 51) we will never travel to another star.
9
posted on
06/24/2017 12:57:27 PM PDT
by
Mr. K
(***THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE OF REPEALING OBAMACARE THAT IS WORSE THAN OBAMACARE ITSELF***)
To: UCANSEE2; ctdonath2
The beam is a laser beam fired from earth at a "starchip," and that beam provides the propulsion for the miniature spacecraft. Yes, there are huge engineering challenges associated with this method of interstellar propulsion, but nothing in principle that can't be overcome -- at least no showstoppers have been identified yet.
This article explains it far better than I ever could. There's also a pretty interesting article about it on Wikipedia.
To: Mr. K
But we can send miniature robotic craft.
To: LibWhacker
Read “MOTE IN GOD’S EYE” - alien space craft uses laser
powered solar sail
12
posted on
06/24/2017 1:56:14 PM PDT
by
njslim
To: LibWhacker
So, probably 80 years or more round trip...
Wait a century or so and that time will be cut down to months or days.
13
posted on
06/24/2017 6:16:40 PM PDT
by
Crucial
To: LibWhacker
Not sure what the source of funding is, but NASA funding requires many aspects of diversity and islamic tenets...Don’t see any of this described in article.
14
posted on
06/24/2017 7:16:44 PM PDT
by
SuperLuminal
(Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
To: LibWhacker
How will this laser be powered?
L
15
posted on
06/24/2017 7:19:29 PM PDT
by
Lurker
(America burned the witch.)
To: LibWhacker
And how will this sail be protected from impacts?
L
16
posted on
06/24/2017 7:20:40 PM PDT
by
Lurker
(America burned the witch.)
To: Lurker
>>>How will this laser be powered?<<<
Unicorn Farts and Liberal Empathy.
17
posted on
06/24/2017 7:23:11 PM PDT
by
Kickass Conservative
( THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
To: Crucial
No round trip. This technology is for robotic spacecraft. They won’t be coming back.
To: Lurker
That’s one of the things they are studying. One approach calls for sending a large number of starchips (they’re “cheap”) to Alpha Centauri such that the probability of at least one of them surviving is large. If only one survives, the mission is a success.
To: Lurker
I guess one of the most favored ideas at the moment is to use a “phased array” of lasers, powered by... Good question! That’s just one of the many things they’ll be looking at.
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